"Keith, buddy, please! Can't we talk about this? Just open the door!" Lance calls out again to the Red Paladin.

"Talk about what?" Pidge asks, walking by.

"Nothing, Pidge. Mullet's just holed himself up in his room again."

Pidge gums in acceptance before continuing to wherever she was going.

"Keith!" Lance exclaims again, pounding his fist on the door.

But, once again, there's no response. He knows that Keith is inside, and he can understand why he wouldn't want to talk. But this isn't just something you can ignore.

'I'm a father...I've always wanted a family, but…'

McClain jumps back as the door slides open, revealing a Keith with an unreadable expression.

"Keith, I-!"

"Do you want to hit the training deck with me?" he asks, cutting him off.

"I-uh...Should you really be pushing yourself like you usually do?"

"I did last night."

"Keith-"

"Come on."

His hand extends out before it drops to his side. His heart conflicted, he turns and heads down the hall, not showing his glee at hearing Lance's footsteps behind him.

"Can we talk about...the baby?" the Latino asks, dropping his voice at the last two words.

"I'd rather not."

"What am I supposed to do, Keith? You spring that on me and then pretend that it didn't happen!" Lance snaps, dropping abruptly.

"Now you know about the smack in the face I felt when you announced your courtship with Allura," Keith replies coldly, feeling his own anger rising.

"Hey! You're the one who left without saying anything or even waking me up!"

The tension is broken by Coran strolling by them.

"Oh, Keith!"

"Coran…" Lance breathes.

"Have you...you know...gotten rid of it yet?" the Alteann asks, whispering as he fails to keep Lance from hearing him.

"N-no."

"Was I interrupting something?" Coran asks, noticing Lance's pained expression, "So sorry to intrude! See you boys later!"

Keith waits until he can no longer hear footsteps before looking up.

"You're gonna get rid of it?"

"Coran thinks that it's a parasite. He's the one who discovered that I'm...y'know...without actually realizing what we were looking at."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Look, Lance, I found out myself this morning. I haven't had time to think about it."

Returning to his brisk walk, he suddenly wishes that Lance wasn't with him.

"But-"

"But, no. It's not off the table."

And with that, the two break off, Lance stunned into silence as he stands in the hall, feeling lost. Keith's pace speeds to a jog, then a run, to a full-on sprint as he navigates the castle to the training room, not allowing his thoughts to control him.

"Keith? Where are you going in such a hurry?" Hunk asks, holding a tray of some weird space food.

"Training deck!"

Everyone sat at the table, eating dinner. Shiro, Allura, and Coran were talking about Zarkon in his forces while Hunk and Pidge were rambling happily about things that Keith couldn't be bothered to pay attention to. Lance sat next to the Princess, gazing down as he picks at his food.

"Are you alright, Lance?" Allura asks, tilting her head slightly.

"Hm? Oh, uh, yeah, Princess," he replies half-heartedly.

"You seem out of it too, Keith," Shiro notes, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, okay? Stop asking me," Keith mumbles, furrowing his eyebrows as he stabs his fork into his dish.

"That was convincing."

"Look, Shiro! I have a lot on my mind! So just leave me alone!"

Keith's chair is thrown back as he stands up and storms out of the room.

"Um, what was that about?" Pidge asks.

"Keith asked me to keep this to myself, but I'm concerned for his well being now! Keith has a parasite in his abdomen that he hasn't gotten rid of yet!" Coran explains.

"Well maybe he won't get rid of it at all!" Lance yells, shooting up as well.

"Lance?" Allura calls.

"I'm going to take a ride in my lion if anyone needs me," he says, his voice suddenly sounding defeated.

He strides out of the room, the door making a resounding click when it closes behind him.

"Shiro?" Hunk addresses.

"I'll go talk to Keith and then Lance," the eldest human explains before leaving in search of the man he considers to be a brother.

"Coran, what parasite does Keith have anyways?" Pidge asks, pushing up her glasses.

"It's quite a peculiar little bugger! It's just a little blob that Keith's body isn't rejecting in any form or fashion! In fact, it seems to be nurturing the parasite as it shares DNA!"

Pidge's face goes pale as the situation clicks for her. Hunk notices and raises his eyebrow.

"Uh, what's going on? Pidge? You good, buddy?"

"Keith's pregnant."

"What?!" Hunk, Allura, and Coran exclaim as one.

"And based on Lance's behavior just now…" she trails off, not sure whether to finish her sentence in front of the Princess.

"What about Lance?" she pushes, however.

"...Based on Lance's behavior, he's probably the father."

Allura's grip tightens on her fork, her hand shaking, until her nerves make her drop it.

"But that would mean that Lance has been-!"

"No, I don't think he's been cheating. That's not like Lance in the slightest. My guess is that it happened sometime before you two got together."

"No. You're wrong. I'm going to go find Lance and he'll tell me you're wrong."

With just Coran, Pidge, and Hunk left in the room, the atmosphere felt heavy and gloomful.

Meanwhile, it's not hard for Shiro to find either Keith nor Lance as they are together, having a screaming match that can be heard two corridors away. Shiro jogs in the direction of their voices, and rounds the corner to see them three meters apart and both red in the face. Instead of interjecting immediately, Shiro hides to finally listen to what they're actually saying. After all, he can't help if he doesn't know how he's helping.

"Why won't you just talk about it, Keith? This isn't something you can ignore until it goes away!"

"Then how about I just skip to the part where it goes away, huh?"

"Keith-!"

"That'd be easier, wouldn't it? You get to happily be with Allura without having to deal with the ball and chain of raising a child with a guy you don't ever like!"

They both fall silent, and Shiro's mind reels as he processes what he just heard.

'Child?'

"Keith…" Lance trails, his voice softer now and sad rather than angry.

Shiro discreetly peeks his head around the corner to see Lance walk up to Keith, wrapping his arms around him as he says something that Shiro can barely hear.

"I'm not really sure how I would describe the way that I feel about you, but...I know my feelings don't fall under the category of 'dislike'."

Keith doesn't say anything, and instead uses his arm to wipe away a few stray tears. Lance gently places his hand on his cheek, pressing lightly to turn his head and make him look Lance in the eye.

"I can't say that I have all the answers and a clear solution. But we're Paladins of Voltron, Keith! We can do this if we want to. So don't cry, buddy."

"Allura…You're crazy about her. I don't want to get in the way of that."

"I think the three of us need to have a long talk. The sooner, the better."

"Can it be tomorrow? This has been the longest day of my life and I feel like I'm going to pass out."

"Should I take you to the medical bay?"

"No. I'm just going to go to my room and sleep until I can't anymore. Goodnight, Lance."

"Goodnight...Keith."

The red paladin walks away, hoping that his slight trembling wasn't noticeable. Shiro left as well, passing Allura as he returns to the dining hall. Lance stares after Keith in a daze before he turns as he hears footsteps approaching him. Rounding the corner is Allura, striking fear into the Latino with her icy glare.

"Princess?"

"Don't Princess me, Lance McClain!"

"What's wrong?"

"When were you going to tell me that you had slept with Keith and got him pregnant?!"